Beters



I (No Model.)

A. L. 'REINMANN & P. LANGE.

AUTOMATIC cmourr INTERRUPTER FOR ELECTRIC CIRCUITS.

No. 404,112. Patented May Z8, 1889..

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT L. REINMANN AND PHILIP LANGE, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TO THE XVESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC CIRCUIT-INTERRUPTER FOR ELECTRIC CIRCUITS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 404,112, dated May 28, 1889.

Application filed July 11, 1888. Renewed April 20, 1889. Serial No. 308,049. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ALBERT L. REINMANN and PHILIP LANGE, citizens of the United States, residing in Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny, in the State of Pennsylvania,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Circnit-Interrupters for Electric Circuits, (Case No. 215,) of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to the construction of a device for automatically interrupting an. electric circuit under predetermined conditrons.

The special object of the invention is to provide means for interrupting the connections of a circuit supplied by alternating electric currents and employed in the process or" treating carbon filaments.

It has been found that carbon filaments may be treated with advantage by alternating electric currents, and it is desirable that after the treatment has proceeded to a certain point the circuit should be automatically interrupted, so that all the filaments after treatment shall. have the same resistance.

This invention is designed to provide a circuit-controlling device which shall insure that the circuit leading to the filaments shall be interrupted and the treatment thereof terminate when the resistance of the filament has decreased to a certain predetermined point.

The invention will be described in 001111 ection with the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure 1 is a front elevation, and Fig. 2 is a detail. Fig. 3 is a top view of a portion.

The circuit-connections are shown in diagram.

Referring to the figures, A represents a suitable base, upon which various parts of the apparatus are supported. Upon a pillar, B, there is carried a centrally-pivoted lever, Z). From the respective ends of this lever there are supported cores f and f, which respectively enter stationary solenoids g and g. The cores are preferably composed of insulated lamina of soft iron or soft-iron wires. The cores are movable freely within the coils. In the dia gram there is shown at A any suitable source of alternating electric currents. The primary coil 19 of an electric converter, P, is connected in the circuit of the source A. The secondary coil 5 is provided with two circuits. One of these consists of a conductor, 1, leading through a suitable adjustable artificial resistance, m, to a binding-post, 71. This post is connected by a conductor, 2, through the solenoid g, and the conductor 3 leads from this solenoid to a binding-post, 1', which is connected by a conductor, 4, with the other terminal of the secondary coil 3.

The second circuit consists of a conductor,

5, leading from the conductor 1 to the filament represented at n,which is to be treated in any well-known manner-as, for instance, by being heated in an atmosphere of hydrocarbon. A conductor, (3, leads from this filament to the binding-post 7s, and a conductor, '7 leads from thisposttothe solenoid g. Aconductor, 8,1eads from this solenoid to an insulated contactpoint, e. lVhen the parts are in the position shown in Fi g. l, a contactsprin g, c, is pressed against the point c. This spring 0 is in electric connection through the frame or support, or in any other convenient manner, with a conductor, 9, leading to the binding-post 1'. Thus itwill be seen that the solenoids g and g are in branch circuits,and that the circuit through the latter is completed only when the spring 0 is against the point 0, and the filament n is included bet-ween the conductors 5 and 6.

The spring 0'' is carried upon a movable arm or lever, a, which is provided with a hook or catch, a. This arm is pressed against the end of the lever Z), carrying the core f, by a spring, (Z. lVhen the filament is inserted and ready to be treated, the end of the lever 1) carrying the core f is lifted, the arm a being pressed back against the spring (Z. The end of the catch or projection a then rests against the smooth end of the lever Z). This holds the spring 0 against the point 0. Now as the treatment proceeds the resistance of the carbon becomes less by reason of the deposit from the surrounding atmosphere of hydrocarbon, and therefore more current passes through the solenoid g until the pull upon the core f exceeds that upon the core f sufficiently to draw the end of the leverb downward across the point of the catch, thus allowing the arm a, to be forced backward, separating the spring 0 from the ,point e, and thus interrupting the circuitthrough the filament. As the current employed is an alternating current, no injury is done to the contact-points by the interruption of the circuit, and, moreover, there still remains a closed secondary circuit through the coil g. It will be noticed, however, that the catch a prevents the lever 17 from immediately tilting in .the opposite direction under the influence of the solenoid g acting upon the core f.

For the purpose of readily adjusting the device a movable weight, e, may be applied to a rod, 6, carried upon the movable lever. The adj ustable resistance m may be employed, moreover, for determining the exact amount of resistance which shall be in the filament n when the treatment is thus caused to cease.

We claim as our invention-- 1. The combination of two solenoids, two cores respectively applied thereto and acted upon in opposition by said solenoids, a carbonized filament in circuit with one solenoid, and an automatic circuitinterrupter in series with only the last-named solenoid and the filament, whereby the circuit of that solenoid alone may be broken.

2. The combination of two solenoids, two cores respectively applied thereto and acted upon in opposition by said solenoids, a carbonized filament in circuit with one solenoid, an automatic circuit-interrupter in series with only the last-named solenoid and the filament, whereby the circuit of that solenoid may be interrupted without interrupting the circuit of the other solenoid, and a detent engaging the support of the cores and holding them in a predetermined position upon the interruption of the circuit by the circuit-controller.

3. The combination, with a source of alternating electric currents, of two branch circuits, two solenoids respectively included in said branch circuits, an adjustable resistance in the one branch, and a circuit-intermpter branch may be interrupted independently of the other branch, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a source of alternating electric currents, of two branch circuits, two solenoids respectively included in said branch circuits, an adjustable resistance in one branch, at carbonized filament and a circuit-interrupter in the other branch,whereby its circuit-connections may be severed independently of the first-named branch, two cores respectively applied to said solenoids, a pivoted support upon-the respective arms of which said cores are carried, anda detent controlled by the circuit-interrupter holding the support in a given position, upon the interruption of the circuit through the corresponding solenoid, against the action of the other solenoid;

5. The combination of two solenoids, two cores respectively applied thereto, a pivoted lever upon opposite arms of which the solenoids are respectively carried, an arm normally pressed toward one end of said support, a contact-spring carried upon said arm or moved I thereby,and a contact-point againstwhich said spring is pressed when the core is withdrawn from its solenoid a predetermined distance.

6. In an automatic circuitrinterrupting device or cut-out,- the combination of a movable lever, 12, the cores f and f, suspended therefrom, and their corresponding solenoids, the lever or arm a, applied to said support, the contact-spring c and its point 0, and a pressure-spring, d, all organized substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names this 3d day of J uly, A. D.

ALBERT L. REINMANN. PHILIP LANGE. Vitnesses: Louis MOESER, ALEX SInELszKY. 

